The portrayal of Edvard Beneš and Klement Gottwald in Czechoslovak cinematography and television series during the period of normalization
Abstract
In their text, the authors address the portrayal of the last democratic president Edvard Beneš and the first communist president Klement Gottwald in Czechoslovak cinematography and television series during the period of normalization. Films and series tried to present Klement Gottwald as one of the most outstanding personalities of Czechoslovak history.
Gottwald was supposed to be perceived as a politician who steered the development of Czechoslovakia in a positive way. The media presented him as both a political and human role model for contemporary citizens.
Edvard Beneš, on the contrary, was portrayed by the respective films and series as a hesitative politician who made a mistake when he did not ask for help from the Soviet Union in September 1938. At the same time, it was emphasized that he insisted on the concept of one Czechoslovak nation, and he did not sympathize with Slovaks and their problems.
As for the events of February 1948 (the communist party changeover), Beneš was portrayed as a politician who urged political parties to stand out against the Czechoslovak Communist Party. Klement Gottwald was presented as a determined politician who had a clearly stated political concept of how to achieve the dominance of the Czechoslovak Communist Party in the country.